Writer and Researcher

Elliott & Harper

It's International Women's Day. And while there are always various political debates about it I do think it's as good a day as any to celebrate the women who inspire us. I try to vary my lists or posts year on year, so this year I'm going with Women who have shaped my life in … Continue reading Five women who shaped me #IWD

Despite having “America” in its title, Tony Kushner’s Angels in America owes a fair amount of its early development—and its high early profile—to Britain’s National Theatre. And as its first Broadway revival readies its opening in March, almost exactly 25 years since its original Main Stem run, it seems oddly fitting that this new production also comes from … Continue reading National Themes: How Britain’s Subsidized Theatre Helped ‘Angels’ Fly

As the first production from Elliott & Harper opens its doors for previews tonight, it’s worth pausing to think what this new production company means and why indeed we need more like it. Something of a ‘power house’ company formed of Marianne Elliott and Chris Harper. Both coming from the National Theatre- as Director and … Continue reading Why Elliott & Harper is the company I’ve been waiting for

First published on my research blog 25th August 2017 Almost a week ago now, Prior Walter bid the Lyttleton theatre ‘More Life’ one last time. Twenty-four years earlier it had opened next door in the Cottesloe. And some 14 or so years earlier they Angel first crashed into my life. Since then it’s … Continue reading A Kind of Painful Progress; Angels in America and Me.

This piece was originally written for Wales Arts Review, the full version can be found here. “History is about the crack wide open” warns the Angels to Prior Walter. And history, of Reagan, 80s America and AIDS is certainly on show for all to see in the National Theatre's revival of Angels in America. But … Continue reading Flying the Angel of History